Human hair becomes dry and/or damaged due to the surrounding environment, styling, drying, and/or coloring or otherwise chemically treating the hair.
A variety of approaches have been developed to condition the hair. A common method of providing conditioning benefit is through the use of hair care compositions containing conditioning agents such as cationic surfactants and polymers, high melting point fatty compounds, low melting point oils, silicone compounds, and mixtures thereof. Silicones are often used as a conditioning active for a number of hair care compositions. However, the rising costs, the inefficient conditioning of damaged hair, and the petroleum based nature of silicone has minimized its desirability as a conditioning active.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a conditioning active which can provide conditioning benefits to hair which can replace, or be used in combination with silicone, or other conditioning active, to maximize the conditioning activity of a hair care composition. Additionally, there is a need to find a conditioning active which can deliver a conditioning benefit to damaged hair, which has previously been difficult to condition using traditional conditioning actives. Finally, there is a need to find a conditioning active which can be derived from a natural source, thereby providing a conditioning active derived from a renewable resource.
None of the existing art provides all of the advantages and benefits of the present invention.